498 RANDOLPH COUNTY. 



1 believed for the last time ; I took his hand ; there was not 

 in its touch the quickening of one pulsation. He turned to 

 me and said, ' Clay is calm, but not vindictive. I hold my pur- 

 pose, Hamilton, in any event. Remember this.' On handing 

 him his pistol. Colonel Tattnall sprung the hair trigger. Mr. 

 Randolph said, ' Tattnall, although I am one of the best shots 

 in, Virginia, with either a pistol or gun, yet I never fire with the 

 hair trigger ; besides, I have a thick buckskin glove on, which 

 will destroy the delicacy of my touch, and the trigger may fly 

 before I know where I am.' But, from his great solicitude for 

 his friend, Tattnall insisted upon hairing the trigger. On tak- 

 ing their position, the fact turned out as Mr. Randolph had 

 anticipated. His pistol went off, before the word, with the 

 muzzle down. The moment the event took place. General 

 Jesup, Mr. Clay's friend, called out that he would instantly 

 leave the ground with his friend, if this occurred again. Mr. 

 Clay at once exclaimed, it was entirely an accident, and beg- 

 ged that the gentleman might be allowed to go on. On the 

 word being given, Mr. Clay fired without effect, Mr. Randolph 

 discharging his pistol in the air. The moment that Mr. Clay 

 saw that Mr. Randolph had thrown away his fire, with a gush 

 of sensibility he instantly approached him and said, with an 

 emotion I can never forget, ' I trust in God, my dear sir, you 

 are untouched. After what has occurred, I would not have 

 harmed you for a thousand worlds.' Deeply afl^cted by this 

 scene, I could not refrain from grasping Mr. Clay by the hand, 

 and said, ' My good sir, we have been long separated, but after 

 the events of to-day, I feel that we must be friends for ever.' " 

 In 1830, General Jackson appointed Mr. Randolph Minister to 

 Russia, but he suddenly returned to the United States. He 

 died at Philadelphia, May 24, 1833. For the Bible he had 

 great veneration, and to the poor he was charitable. More, 

 much more might be said of this wonderful man ; but we 

 have already gone beyond the limits fixed to our biographical 

 sketches. 



